Targeted News Service, August 13, 2008, Wednesday
All Rights Reserved
Targeted News Service
August 13, 2008, Wednesday
HEADLINE: 'DEMOCRACY'S FUTURE' IS THEME OF 2008-09 THOMPSON FORUM AT UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN
BYLINE: Targeted News Service
DATELINE: LINCOLN, Neb.
BODY:
The University of Nebraska issued the following news release:
Commentator, author and adviser to presidents David Gergen will give the first lecture in the 2008-09 E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The year's theme is "Democracy's Future," and the slate of speakers will explore a cross-section of themes related to leadership, globalization, citizenship and governance.
Gergen's lecture, "Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership," will begin at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts, 301 N. 12th St. Gergen served as director of communications for Ronald Reagan and also held positions in the Nixon, Ford and Clinton administrations. He serves as editor-at-large at U.S. News and World Report. He is also a professor of public service at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and director of its Center for Public Leadership. In 2000, he published the best-selling book "Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership Nixon to Clinton."
Other lecturers in the forum's season are Ronald Dworkin, professor of law at New York University and University College London, former speechwriter for President Kennedy and Nebraska native Ted Sorenson, former president of South Africa F. W. de Klerk, journalist and activist Sarah Chayes, and Colin Campbell, chairman and president of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The season will also feature the second annual Charles and Linda Wilson Dialogue on Domestic Issues, with a discussion of illegal immigration by Michael Olivas, William B. Bates distinguished chair of law at the University of Houston and Vernon Briggs, professor emeritus of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University.
All Thompson Forum lectures will be delivered in the Lied Center. They are free and open to the public, however all events will be ticketed. Tickets are free and guarantee a reserved seat. Beginning Aug. 18, those interested may reserving Thompson Forum tickets for fall-semester lectures may do so by contacting the Lied Center at (402) 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231. They may also be picked up in person, or by downloading a ticket order form and order by mail or fax. Tickets for spring-semester lectures will be available beginning Jan. 5.
Other 2007-08 Thompson Forum speakers and dates are:
Ronald Dworkin: Tuesday, Oct. 28, 7 p.m. "Democracy and Religion: America and Israel." Dworkin has a unique ability to tie together abstract philosophical ideas and arguments with concrete everyday concerns in law, morals and politics. Dworkin's pioneering scholarly work has had worldwide impact. He is a professor of philosophy and law at New York University and a professor of law at University College London. In 2007, Dworkin was awarded the prestigious Holberg International Memorial Prize by Norway's University of Bergen for outstanding scholarly work in the humanities. He has written influential articles on matters of public political controversy for many years. Among his books are, "Taking Rights Seriously," "Justice in Robes" and "Is Democracy Possible Here? Principles for New Political Debate."
Theodore C. "Ted" Sorenson: Tuesday, Nov. 18, 7 p.m. "America and the World, 1962 to 2008: Contrasts and Contradictions." Sorensen, former special counsel and adviser to President John F. Kennedy and a widely published author on the presidency and foreign affairs, practiced international law for more than 36 years as a senior partner in the prominent U.S. law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. Former chairman of the firm's International Practice Committee, he has represented U.S. and multinational corporations in negotiations with governments all over the world and advised a number of foreign governments and government leaders, ranging from the late President Anwar El Sadat of Egypt to former President Nelson Mandela of South Africa. Sorensen is a Lincoln native and graduate of the University of Nebraska and the NU College of Law. His memoir, "Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History," was published in May.
F.W. de Klerk: Tuesday, Feb. 10, 7 p.m. "Bridging the Gap: Globalization without Isolation." During his time as president of South Africa, de Klerk released Nelson Mandela from prison, and initiated and presided over the dismantling of apartheid, the adoption of South Africa's first fully democratic constitution and the first-ever multiracial elections. In 1993, Mandela and de Klerk shared the Nobel Peace Prize. One of the most influential statesmen of this generation, de Klerk founded and is chairman of the Global Leadership Foundation, a consortium of former heads of state dedicated to promoting peace, democracy and development by providing confidential peer-to-peer advice to governments around the world.
Sarah Chayes: Wednesday, March 4, 7 p.m. "Notes from Afghanistan." Chayes has been living and working in Kandahar, Afghanistan, since 2001, when she covered the fall of the Taliban for National Public Radio. In 2002, she left journalism to help rebuild the shattered country, working first with Afghans for Civil Society, and currently with Arghand, a cooperative producing skin-care products from local fruits, nuts and botanicals. The Washington Post described her book, "The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban," as "sharply observed, fearlessly told." Prior to her assignment in Afghanistan, Chayes reported for NPR in the Balkans, North Africa and the Middle East. Along with members of her NPR team, she was recognized by the Foreign Press for her reporting in Kosovo.
The Wilson Dialogue, featuring Michael Olivas and Vernon Briggs: Wednesday, March 25, 7 p.m. "Illegal Immigrants: Path to Citizenship?" Estimates of the number of illegal immigrants in the United States range from 11 million to more than 20 million. Most recommendations for immigration reform center on the issue of a path to citizenship for these people. Opponents say this is amnesty, a strategy which proved ineffective in previous immigration legislation. Supporters say legalization is both a necessity and a moral obligation. In the second annual Wilson Dialogue, Olivas and Briggs will discuss the issue of a path to citizenship.
Colin G. Campbell: Tuesday, April 14, 7 p.m. "Citizenship in a Global Age." Campbell is chairman and president of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, which in 2007 convened the World Forum on the Future of Democracy. The forum brought together international and national scholars on democracy and government officials, politicians and advocates who have played a role in democracy's advance. Colonial Williamsburg is also a partner in the "By the People" series, which has engaged thousands of people in conversation about America's role in the world and other vital issues. As a product of this partnership, in early 2008. PBS aired "Dialogues in Democracy," a documentary based on a national conversation with emerging leaders and influential Americans about fundamental citizenship. At the same time, Colonial Williamsburg debuted iCitizenForum.com, which uses global technology to initiate a worldwide dialogue about the roles, rights and responsibilities of citizens in a democracy.
Thompson Forum lectures will be available live on the Web (www.unl.edu), Lincoln TimeWarner Cable Channel 21 or Channel 5, NETSAT 104, UNL campus Channel 8 and UNL's KRNU radio (90.3 FM). Live satellite broadcasts and follow-up discussion will be available in Scottsbluff, North Platte, Kearney, Wayne, Columbus and Omaha.
For 19 years, the E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues has brought a diversity of opinions on international and public policy issues to UNL and the citizens of Nebraska to promote understanding and to encourage debate. The forum features forceful speakers who are committed to the issues they address, and seeks balance over the range of programs rather than in each presentation. The forum does not endorse the views of the individual speakers, nor limit their freedom to express their points of view. The Thompson Forum is a cooperative project of the Cooper Foundation, the Lied Center and UNL. In 1990, the series was named in honor of E.N. "Jack" Thompson (1913-2002), a 1933 graduate of the University of Nebraska, who served as president of the Cooper Foundation from 1964 to 1990 and as its chairman from 1990 until his death.
More information about the Thompson Forum is on-line at http://enthompson.unl.edu.
Contact: Marcia White, 402/472-0074.
LOAD-DATE: August 13, 2008
<< Home